Various devices allow playback of media. For example, a user may watch a video recording using a VCR connected to a television or by streaming the same video on his portable computer. Similarly, a user may listen to an audio recording by using a record player connected to stereo speakers or by using headphones connected to her smartphone. The formats of media and means for accessing a type of media are nearly limitless. Users often stop or pause playback of media and then continue playback at a later time or a different location. A simple example is a user pausing streaming playback of a video on his laptop, leaving the streaming application open on the laptop, and then continuing playback at a later time on that same application on the laptop. In this instance, because the video streaming application was never closed, the playback continues from the point at which the user paused. There are many instances, however, where the user is forced to resume playback of the media from the beginning of the media or spend time locating the location at which he originally paused the media. In such instances, the user wastes time and becomes frustrated at the process of cuing the media to the correct location.
Some media content providers allow users to stop playback on a media application, close the application, and then resume playback from the point at which playback was paused. Sometimes playback is resumed on a different device, possibly at a different location. One example provider of such playback is Netflix. Using a home PC, a user may log into her Netflix account and begin playing back a movie, for example by streaming the movie. At some point during play, the user pauses playback and leaves for the airport. At the airport, she then uses her laptop to log back into her Netflix account and resume playback of the media on her laptop. While providers such as Netflix may allow limited pause and playback on different devices, they all require the user to log into a particular account on both the first and second devices. No system or device, however, allows a user to transfer playback from one device to another without being logged into the same user account on both devices.